Improbable
by Hazel Eyes 10
Summary: A collection of Nikolina moments. "You can't cancel your own wedding, Nikolai."
1. Nightmares

A/N: I don't own anything.

The fireplace in her room gradually sent warmth dancing across her skin as the fire took to the logs. Nikolai had made it his mission to build it himself, even though there were plenty of servants to do such a menial task. Not to mention that soot could stain his clothes and gloves.

It must have something to do with his passion for building things.

As much as she tried to hide it, she appreciated the nights he came to visit her, when the Palaces were asleep, and they just talked. Okay, so he mostly talked. But it was … less lonely. And she suspected it was the same for him.

Alina studied Nikolai's gloved hands closely. She didn't know how she had missed it up until now, but ever since the fateful day that the Fold was destroyed, she hadn't seen him without gloves. She'd been so swallowed up in herself to really notice anything these past few … weeks? Months?

She shoved down Aleksander and Mal's empty eyes back to the lowest reaches of her memories for the umpteenth time. She couldn't think about them again, not now.

They would re-emerge in a nightmare, and she shivered at the thought.

"Don't tell me all that work was for nothing," Nikolai said with a smile tugging the corner of his lips as he sat down on the edge of her bed next to her. He had seen her shiver.

"No, no. It's warmer now. Thanks." Her eyes fell. Before, she would've been able to light it herself. The place where her power had been remained achingly empty.

It was odd for him to be so close. Usually, they just sat at the table where she took her meals, but at some point during his toiling she had switched to the bed. Now, there were no barriers. Alina returned her gaze to his gloves, stained with black soot. Curiosity took root deep inside her, and she grabbed his closest hand.

"What are you doing?" he asked, tugging his hand, but she gripped it firmly.

She held her breath and peeled off each finger, then slid the soft material away. Dark scars lined his fingers where there had been claws. The memory of his twisted form made her drop the glove. Her own fingers traced the markings. Nikolai swallowed, but let her touch him.

"Nikolai," she whispered.

"They were worse before," he said. She could sense him struggle to remain nonchalant. Alina met his gaze, and she sensed a cold fear in him she hadn't noticed until now. She had been so blinded by her own pain, she hadn't noticed her friend's distress.

She enveloped his hand between hers. His skin was warm and soft, his palm calloused.

"Thank you," he said after a moment of silence.

"What for?"

"For believing in me, even when I was…"

She blinked, and realized that tears threatened to spill over. Alina embraced him, much like she had when he was transformed. She crushed him against her, and he buried his nose in her neck. As awful as life was, as devoid of feeling as she had been for so long, she never would've pulled through it if Nikolai had died too.

They fell asleep in each other's arms, protecting each other from their nightmares.


	2. A Stolen Moment

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: A collection of Nikolina snippets, because I can't get them out of my head.

Nikolai kisses his way up her bare stomach, her heaving chest, and finally captures her lips.

"We were supposed to stop this," she says breathlessly, tangling her fingers in his disheveled hair.

He places his mouth over the thundering vein in her neck. "It's not my fault you can't keep your hands off me."

She smacks his arm and he laughs against her skin. "I'm serious."

His laughter dies down, and she feels a weight sink into her abdomen. Alina trails her fingers over the taut muscles of his shoulders. Nikolai collapses beside her on her bed. They're silent for a rare moment, and she listens to the sound of his breathing. The place between her thighs still pulsed. She wishes time would freeze here, where the impossible could live.

"There's still time," Nikolai says softly, and Alina is surprised at the yearning in his words. "I can call off the arrangement."

"You can't cancel your own wedding, Nikolai."

"I'm king. I can do whatever the hell I want." He smiles, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"Abandoning an alliance with a rival kingdom isn't exactly the best way to keep the peace."

"Then I dare them to start a war. We'll see who outguns whom."

She knows he's only joking and rolls her eyes, but her heart still clenches. "We've been through this. I'm not leaving Keramzin."

"You are a cruel, heartless woman."

"You love it."

She expects a witty comeback, but he just drinks in the sight of her, like it's the last time he'd ever see her.

Maybe it would be. Soon, he would have his queen, his heir, and he would go on to be the best king Ravka has ever seen. He would forget all about the powerless orphan girl who had kissed his scars. They should've known better than to get lost in each other – the only outcome was pain. The thought of losing him choked her.

He sweeps her into his warm, solid embrace. Now that she's hidden from view, a tear slips down her cheek.


End file.
